Search This Blog

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat wins second term after tough election race

The secular mayor of Jerusalem has won a second term after a
hard-fought campaign that saw him fending off a challenge by a candidate backed
by two of Israel's biggest kingmakers.

Challenger Moshe Lion conceded defeat to Nir Barkat at about
2.30am local time on Wednesday.

"Jerusalem won!" Barkat wrote on his Facebook
page.

With 70% of the votes counted in Tuesday's election, Barkat
held a commanding lead of 55% to Lion's 42%. Israeli TV stations said the
14,000-vote margin was all but insurmountable.

The 2008 election victory of Barkat, a former hi-tech
entrepreneur, followed years of dominance by ultra-Orthodox Jews over the
city's affairs. His first term – characterised by high-profile tourism and
cultural projects meant to boost the economy and halt an exodus of secular
residents from the city – was generally seen as a success.

But Lion, a former director of the prime minister's office,
was backed by two key politicians jostling to reclaim their former political
glory. Lion's allies, former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman and the leader
of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, Ariyeh Deri, both had much at stake.

Lion, an observant Jew, was counting heavily on
ultra-Orthodox voters. In a last-minute blow, two leading ultra-Orthodox rabbis
declined to endorse him late on Monday, telling their adherents to vote
according to their conscience.

Jerusalem is one of the world's most difficult cities to
govern. It lies at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and is the
centre of secular-religious battles for control in Israel.

The city's 800,000 residents include secular, modern
Orthodox, and ultra-Orthodox Jews as well as Palestinians.